Atheist and the nativity

Person_one

MackemPunk wrote: »

Image I was to say I believe the universe was created by a giant flying spaghetti monster, I'd get laughed at and asked for proof, but you can't prove it didn't, why the hell should your god get special treatment.

See also 'Russell's Teapot'. Good luck proving that doesn't exist.

eezer

As a practising atheist, I have no belief in any higher life form but don't have the slightest problem in my kids learning about any religion and forming their own opinions. I do however believe that ultimately a knowledge of something like Higgs-boson which is possibly about to be discovered will be of far more use to them in their developing understanding of life than something, which in my opinion, is simply designed to suppress rather than enlighten.

onlyroz

pinkspiral1976 wrote: »

I'm a teacher and even in a non faith school, RE is on the curriculum which means it has to be taught in all schools. A wide range of faiths are taught, not just Christianity to reflect the diverse population of the UK. It is not taught as 'fact' but in the form of 'stories', using phrases like, 'This is what Christians/Muslims/Hindus etc believe'.

Is this equally true of the act of collective worship that occurs each day in schools?

onlyroz

miss_edith wrote: »

I'm always surprised by how arrogant and vehement some atheists can be. I can't imagine wasting time getting worked up about something I don't believe in. :undecided

Atheists are amongst the most persecuted groups in society (e.g. there would be a greater chance of a black, female homosexual becoming the American President than an atheist). Many of them go out of their way to avoid discussing their religious views because to criticise religion is one of societies big taboos. In my experience it is usually the religious fundamentalists that are the most arrogant and vehement.

balletshoes

onlyroz wrote: »

Is this equally true of the act of collective worship that occurs each day in schools?

I think I remember you mentioning this before on another thread - there is no act of collective worship at all in my daughters school, not daily, not at assemblies, not at all on school premises.

claire16c

kafkathecat wrote: »

Faith isn't about what people believe rationally it is what they feel spiritually.

But how can you believe in something that isnt proven to be true? That doesnt make sense to me - its not rational. How can you feel something about something that might not be there?

I would never just believe something because someone told me it was true. I find it weird people just believe in a religion or a god without questioning it.

balletshoes

Person_one wrote: »

When the world you live in is massively influenced and even controlled by things you don't believe to exist maybe you'll understand a bit better.

I'm interested - in your daily life, how does religion massively influence or control you and what you do/don't do? I'm not having a go, I'm not religious and have a husband who is a fairweather member of another mainstream religion (not Christianity). I maybe just don't think about it, but I don't see religion controlling my choices or influences?

Mojisola

kafkathecat wrote: »

Faith isn't about what people believe rationally it is what they feel spiritually.

claire16c wrote: »

But how can you believe in something that isnt proven to be true? That doesnt make sense to me - its not rational. How can you feel something about something that might not be there?

I would never just believe something because someone told me it was true. I find it weird people just believe in a religion or a god without questioning it.

I'm with kafkathecat on this - I don't belong to any organised religion. They're all controlled by people with all their human failings. There are good people within all the faiths but there are also people who have risen up the hierarchy because of a love of power and control over others.

If you have had a spiritual experience, something very real has happened to you. It shows up on brain scans and a spiritual experience can be triggered by stimulating certain areas of the brain, just as you can be made to feel things in different parts of your body by stimulating other areas.

A spiritual experience can't be dismissed because you don't have proof of what was experienced. What we can prove is just the limit of our scientific knowledge at this moment. Should ancient man not have "believed" in, say, lightening because he couldn't prove how it happened?

I don't believe in the "stories" that the various faiths use but I know that I have had some very real experiences which I can't pretend didn't happen. I can't explain them, I can't prove to anyone else they happened but I don't see why I should have to. We all create our own realities and I am happy to incorporate my experiences into my reality.

I don't think anyone else should feel the same as me and I don't want to make people around me feel the same as me, including my children. They will make their own sense of the world in whatever way suits them.

erichamster

Torry_Quine wrote: »

Those of us with a faith, don't need your pity and we aren't afflicted actually. :mad:

I'm sorry to hear of the death of your aunt by marriage but I have to say that her interpretation that God was punishing her was almost certainly wrong.

Of course she was wrong, that's just the point, you're all wrong! But it was blind faith that led her to such a devastatingly wrong premise.
Of course you're afflicted, no right minded individual would choose to worship Yahweh so I can only imagine that you feel you have no choice.

No sky fairy or omnipotent father was punishing her or anyone else for anything, I am just sad that she (and so many others) are burdened by such thoughts at such difficult times, I am relieved to be free of them.

Also as an asides she's not my aunt by marriage, we're not married.

onlyroz

balletshoes wrote: »

I think I remember you mentioning this before on another thread - there is no act of collective worship at all in my daughters school, not daily, not at assemblies, not at all on school premises.

Then the school is breaking the law. An interesting article about it here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-14794472